Staying Well with Type 2 Diabetes - A Patient Coach Activity

Neda Laiteerapong, MD, MS is a practicing general internist and researcher in the Department of Medicine at the University of Chicago. Dr. Laiteerapong's work focuses on improving the understanding of how the quality of life in older adults with diabetes is affected by geriatric syndromes, hypoglycemia and macrovascular and microvascular complications of diabetes.  To examine this area, she uses data gathered from patient surveys and secondary data sources including pharmacy and health claims by Kaiser Permanente Northern California managed care.  She has also used diabetes microsimulation models to evaluate the effects of delays in achieving blood pressure control in adults with diabetes.  Currently she is studying how patients with diabetes incorporate the concept of time in their decisions to start intensive treatments now or later. Additionally, she has co-authored articles about the public health implications of bariatric surgery for diabetes treatment and the effects of health care reform on the delivery of chronic disease care. Dr. Laiteerapong completed medical school at the Boston University School of Medicine.

Amy Hess-Fischl is a program coordinator for the Teen and Adolescent Diabetes Transition Program at the University of Chicago's Kovler Diabetes Center. She is a certified diabetes educator, nutrition specialist, and certified insulin pump trainer. She is a co-author of the Joint Position Statement of the American Diabetes Association, American Association of Diabetes Educators, and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support guidelines and the 2017 National Standards of Diabetes Self-Management Education. She has been a diabetes educator for over 20 years, and regularly provides expertise on the topic of diabetes self-management education.